© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/�8750��4-� �34� �86 zutot �4 ( �0 �7) 3 �-48 brill.com/zuto ZUTOT: Perspectives on Jewish Culture brill.com/zuto Walking Out for Yizkor Zvi Ron Independent scholar, Israel Abstract In many synagogues it is customary for people with living parents to walk out of the sanctuary for the Yizkor memorial service. This has been explained in many ways, with most explanations involving the evil eye or liturgical concerns. This article examines the origin of the Yizkor service and its connection to the collection of monetary donations in honor of the deceased. This practice, connecting Yizkor with donations, is proposed as a significant factor that those with living parents would not participate in this service. Keywords Yizkor – custom – liturgy – memorial – evil eye A Brief History of Yizkor One of the central concerns of early Askenazic prayer is death and mourning. This is expressed in the role of Kaddish, and prayers such as Av ha-rahamim and Yizkor.1 The history of congregational memorial prayers on Shabbat and holidays begins with memorial prayers introduced into the Ashkenazic liturgy after the Torah reading on the Shabbat before Shavuot to commemorate the martyrs of the Crusades. This was the time of year when many major Rhineland communities were destroyed during the Crusades. The memorial prayers did 1  I.M. Ta-Shma, The Early Ashkenazic Prayer (Jerusalem 2003) 13. Regarding the development of Sephardic memorial prayers, see S. Glick, Or le-ʾavel (Efrat 1991) 134–137. On Av ha-rachamim, see J.I. Lifshitz, ‘Av ha-rahamim: On the “Father of Mercy” Prayer,’ in S.C. Reif, A. Lehnardt and A. Bar-Levav, eds., Death in Jewish Life – Burial and Mourning Customs among Jews of Europe and Nearby Communities (Berlin 2014) 141–154.